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Should San Francisco 49ers part ways with Ahmad Brooks?

By Brian Spaen

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Another San Francisco 49ers player has been in trouble with the law. This time, it’s Ahmad Brooks, who’s been accused of sexual assault from the same woman who got former teammate Ray McDonald in trouble. Already a rocky relationship and a looming hit in the salary cap, is it time to move on from the linebacker?

Earlier this week, it was announced that Brooks was under investigation for alleged sexual assault. Lindsay H. Jones from the USA Today reports that the woman was abused “in a sexual manner” by Brooks in her latest complaint while bringing up the same details from the December complaint with McDonald.

"According to court documents obtained Wednesday by CSN Bay Area, the woman reiterates in the May 5 filing the details from the December police report, claiming that she partied with McDonald and others at his home, that she fell and hit her head by the pool, and that she did not consent to having sex with McDonald.In the new complaint, she said Brooks “groped her in a sexual manner.”"

This isn’t the first link between Brooks and the accuser. It was confirmed by investigators that they met in San Jose after the 49ers lost at Seattle in December.

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San Francisco hasn’t released Brooks yet, nor should they immediately. While expressing disappointment, they’ll wait until more information is released on the allegation. However, the team will be thinking about personal issues and how much money they could save by moving on.

First, the 49ers were already looking for suitors that would take Brooks off their hands in early November. That led to a disconnect between the linebacker and Jim Tomsula. Brooks made it clear to the now new head coach that he wasn’t happy about not seeing the field as much during an eventual win over the New York Giants. He was then benched during the second half following his tantrum that was clearly seen on the sidelines.

Thinking that Brooks learned his lesson, he was listed as inactive against the Oakland Raiders just a few short weeks later after missing a team meeting. In an article by Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the linebacker wondered why he was singled out when others did the same thing. He played the card of not trying to blame anybody but still blamed them.

"“I’m not here to point fingers,” he said. “But I’m not the only one who’s ever missed anything. Of course, there have been other people that missed or that were late. But I’m not going to point fingers. I own up to my responsibilities. I wasn’t there. It is what it is.”"

Let’s not also forget an altercation that happened between Brooks and former Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Lamar Divens. Back in June 2013, Divens took away Brooks’ car keys and the linebacker hit the lineman with a beer bottle and punched him in the face. This all happened at Brooks’ home.

Not only is he being a distraction off the field, but there’s also the case of a huge salary cap hit. Sean Tomlinson of Bleacher Report shows that he’s valued as a top five outside linebacker, supposedly in the same class as players like Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, and even his own teammate Aldon Smith. The problem is that he isn’t. There was huge dropoff in production from a season ago, playing in just three games less. He simply couldn’t bring any pressure to the opposing quarterback — 11 hurries and 22 under pressure plays in 2014 compared to 26 hurries and 43 under pressure plays in 2013.

Jason Hurley of Niners Nation explains that Brooks was set to make $6 million in guaranteed money for 2015, but that figure was de-escalated to $3.5 million because of his underachieving 2014 season. He also crunches the numbers for how much the 49ers would save by getting rid of him.

"If the 49ers chose to release or trade Brooks before June 1, they wouldsave $1,508,750, while taking on a dead money hit worth $5,546,250 in 2015. If they choose to designate him as a June 1 release, they would see savings of $4,706,250, while having dead money hits of $2,348,750 in 2015, and $3,197,500 in 2016."

The move is simply a no-brainer. San Francisco already got a value pick in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft with Eli Harold that could start as early as this upcoming season. Aaron Lynch is coming off of an impressive rookie season and even looked better than Brooks at times. There’s simply no reason for the 49ers to hold onto somebody that likely will be more of a headache down the road and is ultimately a salary cap casualty.

Next: 49ers 2015 NFL Draft Grades

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